


Purification of the Mind

by UberDuper



Category: OFF (Game), Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Characters Tagged As They Appear, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 16:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1475887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UberDuper/pseuds/UberDuper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After waking up in a strange, empty place filled with a white ocean and a plastic walkway, Hinata finds himself faced with a strange bout of cliche amnesia and a mission of purification dancing in his mind. Not knowing what else to do, he sets off on his supposed mission. But his story feels strange, as though he should know some of the things populating this unnatural world...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Zone Zero and Someone Named Nanami

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither OFF nor the Dangan Ronpa franchise. Whether or not that's unfortunate is up to you.
> 
> Hey guys, it's UberDuper. This is just a story I hope to continue with at some point. A quick warning about eventual spoilers for OFF, just in case you haven't finished the game yet. Enjoy.

_Purification._ Hinata wakes up to the sound of sloshing water and the hardness of plastic on his back. He sits up, rubbing at his eyes. Where... is he? He opens his eyes, glancing around. The hardness under him is indeed plastic, a cheery yellow, and the sloshing sound is some liquid, an opaque white. The strip of plastic juts out of the sea of white, and is barely wide enough to keep Hinata on it. The boy, confused, slowly gets up onto his feet. He sways slightly, but keeps his balance. What the heck? A large building, seamlessly melding with the ground, stands in the distance. Hinata subconsciously reaches down, wrapping his fingers around a baseball bat. He lifts it up. Some sort of metal. Light. Easy to swing. He hefts it onto his shoulder and proceeds to walk down the pathway towards the yellow building.

It takes what feels like hours, but eventually he's almost there. His legs ache from walking and his brain aches from thinking. Hinata had spend the entire walk trying to figure out how he had gotten here. His mind was as blank as the milky ocean surrounding him. The why was a different story. Every time he thought of _why_ he was walking down a strip of plastic in the middle of a milk ocean, one thing popped into his mind. _Purification._ That was what his fractured mind told him. Purify. He must purify this world of sin and evil. He had to... do something. Purify the guardians. Yes.

“Oh? A person...” A light, feathery voice reaches Hinata's ears. He glances up from the monotonous yellow of the ground. A girl stands there, in front of the building he had spent so long walking towards. She wears a skirt, a button down shirt, and a hoodie with the hood pulled up. The hood has two cat ears on it, giving her the subtle appearance of a cat. Barely. The strangest part about her, however, is her color. Her clothes are entirely white, leaving the slight tint of her skin, her pink eyes, and the gentle shock of lavender hair as her only colors. “Surely I must be dreaming again... Nobody lives in Zone Zero but me...” Hinata shrugs.

“I don't live here.” He holds out his free hand to shake. A flash of white surprises him. His clothes. He's wearing... baseball clothes? And cleats and a baseball cap. The girl doesn't seem to care. She sleepily takes his hand and shakes it. She has a surprisingly strong handshake.

“You don't?...” The girl yawns, covering her mouth with a hand. “Apologies... I just woke up from my nap. My name is Nanami. Although most people call me 'The Judge'. I'm not sure why...”

“My name's Hinata.” He nods at this 'Nanami'. Or 'Judge'.

“So, Hinata... What _are_ you doing in my home?” Nanami cocks her head curiously.

“I...” He has to stop to think. Why is he here anyway? Unfortunately for him, his mouth doesn't get the memo and keeps running itself. “I'm here because I need your help.”

“Help?” Nanami stares at him blankly. Hinata is about to attempt to correct himself when she smiles. It's extremely disarming. “Ah, is there a level you can't beat? I'm really good at games.”

“No.” Hinata nearly smacks himself in the face. God damn it mouth. Apparently it knows more than he does. His subconscious takes over. “I need your help on my mission. To purify the world.”

“Oh.” She rights her head and purses her lips. “Hmm... Purify the world...” Nanami taps her chin before shrugging. “Okay. That sounds like a noble goal. I'd love to help you.” She smiles at him. “Follow me.” The girl stalks off, walking into a portion of the building through a door shaped hole in the wall.

“Hey!” Hinata watches her disappear into the building. Just as he's about to follow her, however, something catches his eye. A chest, sitting on the edge of the plastic ground. He glances around. It could be her's. But she _did_ say she was willing to help him. Hinata scampers over to the chest, passing a ladder on the way over, and pushes the button in the center of it, causing the top to pop off and slide into the ocean. It disappears without a sound. Hinata stares at the interior. It's... a ticket. He reaches in and grabs the tiny slip of paper. It's completely white, with the word 'Luck' spelled out on the front in solid, black letters. “What the hell?...” He mumbles to himself, pocketing the ticket. Hinata shakes his head and heads over to the opening that Nanami went into. When he passes through, however, he finds himself confronted with a wall with some numbers on it. That's it. “...Seriously?” Hinata throws his hands up in exasperation and exits the room. He glances around, completely lost, when Nanami's voice comes out of nowhere.

“What are you doing?” Her voice contains a teasing lilt. Hinata looks around, even turns around a few times, but can't seem to find her. He's not sure how her voice is carrying so easily. She must be nearby. “Up here!” Hinata looks up. Nanami peers down at him from a ledge sticking out of the side of the building. “There's a ladder over there! You passed by it earlier.” Hinata feels himself flush red. So she saw him take the dumb ticket. Whatever. Hinata stalks over to the ladder, staring up at it. It goes up a lot higher than he thought. With a sigh, he grabs one of the rungs and slowly begins his climb up. It doesn't take as long as he thought it would, although his legs ache from his long, long walk earlier and the climb certainly doesn't help. He flops ungracefully onto his back when he gets to the top of the ledge, panting.

“Are you sure you're fit to be saving the world when you're that out of shape?” Nanami giggles at him. She leans forward, her face hovering over his. Hinata just stares back up at her, annoyance etched onto his face.

“I'm purifying the world. There's a difference.” Hinata says without thinking. It kind of surprises him. Is purifying it really different from saving? Nanami cocks her head, looking at him strangely. Not that her reaction is strange. Hinata rolls onto his stomach and gets to his knees, then his feet.

“Okay.” Nanami just shrugs. “So... do you know how to fight?”

“Eh? Fight?” Hinata raises an eyebrow. “What does fighting have to do with anything?”

“Oh my.” Nanami places a hand over her mouth and quietly chuckles. Hinata wouldn't have caught it if he wasn't listening. “So you really aren't from here.” Hinata just stares at her in irritation. “Well, you see... this is Zone Zero. Nothing lives here.”

“Yeah. You've said that.” Hinata says. He just wants to get on with this. He's getting antsy.

“I wasn't finished.” Nanami states simply. She doesn't seem irritated that he cut her off. “This is Zone Zero. However, there are other zones. And well... they aren't exactly the safest places, you see.”

“...What does that mean?” Hinata narrows his eyes. This is suspicious.

“I'm saying that there are things out there that wouldn't hesitate to tear you to shreds. I can handle myself, naturally, but I wanted to know if you knew how. “ Nanami cocks her head. Hinata probably would take offense to her words, if the way she said them wasn't so... open. She has this trusting aura about her.

“I dunno. Why don't you show me.” Hinata crosses his arms, bat dangling loosely in his grasp.

“Hmm... Okay.” Nanami shrugs and immediately drops low, her legs bent and arms poised to strike. Hinata spots the aggression in her stance and his body quickly reacts. His hands fly to the handle of his bat, gripping lightly, but firmly. His legs bend slightly and he leans forward. She suddenly launches into a rant about stuff he doesn't understand. Keys, bars, commands. Nanami shakes herself out of it and sighs.

“Sorry, wrong fight. Just show me your best attack.” Nanami smiles at him. Hinata closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. His best attack... He nods, his foot squeaking lightly as he adjusts it against the yellow plastic. In a flash, his body springs forward and he catapults at Nanami. His foot flies at her and she dodges to the side. A grin tugs at his mouth instinctively. He has her right where he wants her. As she's in the air, Hinata adjusts his position, harshly bringing the bat down onto the girl's side. She smashes roughly into the plastic with a hollow thwack. Hinata stands over her and clutches at his bat, his grin feeling way too demented. _Purification_. Suddenly he realizes where he is. His grin falls away.

“Oh. Oh shit. Oh god.” Hinata drops to his knees to help the girl up. “Christ, I'm sorry.” Nanami shakes her head, a gentle smile on her face.

“No. No, that was good. I think you'll do fine, if you hit them with the same force you hit me.” She wearily stands up, and sticks a hand into his pocket. Hinata starts to protest, but she shushes him. He watches as she pulls out the ticket. Nanami puts it close to her face, whispers something that sounds like 'salut' and rips it in half. A sparkling that could very well be a trick of the light surrounds her, and Hinata notices she looks perfectly okay now. “Okay. Follow me.” She scrambles up yet another ladder. Hinata tilts his head back and groans. Squeezing the grip of his bat for support, he trudges over to the ladder and begins his slow ascent.

* * *

 “Holy... shit...” Hinata presses the last block down, watching in relief and satisfaction as it turns transparent. That damn girl had sent him through three floors of this block bullshit, each one more complicated than the last. He had spent way too much time on this last one. As one of those weird blocks that always moved to block his movement disappears (the other was still blocking another door), Hinata stumbles out the door it was blocking... to find himself five feet from the long stretch of plastic that brought him to the damn building. What he did... didn't even lead him anywhere. Hinata throws his head back and groans angrily. He turns to find Nanami perched on top of one of those treasure chests, snoring away. He stomps over and slams his bat into the ground a few times to wake her up. Instead of jumping up and possibly falling into the milk ocean like he wanted, Nanami simply cracks an eye open and stretches.

“Oh. You finished. Cool.” She hops off of the chest and stares at Hinata.

“You bet I finished. I finished the most useless and bullshit activity I have _ever_ had the 'pleasure' of participating in.” Hinata growls, his eyes flashing angrily. Nanami simply cocks her head, a concerned look on her face, before smiling.

“Well you learned something valuable.” Nanami kicks the latch of the chest, the lid popping off, and pulls out a piece of some sort of silvery, leathery... thing. Hinata grabs it when she holds it out to him. “Here you go. For a job well done. Just take a quick bite when you get tired. It'll help give you that special boost.”

“That's disgusting.” Hinata takes the damn thing anyway. She also pulls a backpack out of the chest, a solid black in color. She cocks her head, staring at the thing in confusion.

“This isn't mine...” Nanami purses her lips before turning to Hinata. She holds it out to him. “Do you want this?” Hinata looks it over. It looks relatively normal. Just a sack with a clasp to keep it shut and two straps.

“...Yeah.” Hinata takes it, pops the clasp, and drops that disgusting piece of silvery flesh (that's definitely what it it, he's never touching that damn thing again) into it. Surprisingly, when it hits the bottom, it sort of... disappears. He can't see it. Whatever. It's not like he wanted it anyway. Hinata closes the bag, locking the clasp, and shrugs it over one of his shoulders. He and Nanami stare at each other for a moment before Nanami smiles.

“So. Now you just need to get to the world you need to purify, huh?” She lets out a puff of air, humor in her voice. Hinata just droops his eyes, staring at her in annoyance.

“Yeah. Show me how. The sooner, the better.” He crosses his arms. Being in this stupid yellow plastic, milk ocean place is making him antsy. There's something he could be doing right now. _Purification_. Hinata clutches at his head.

“Okay, okay. Goodness, I help you out and this is how you repay me. Sheesh.” Nanami pouts, but heads back into the door hole again. Hinata follows her. The block that was... blocking the other door isn't there anymore, and Nanami strolls on through. Hinata finds himself on another, if a lot shorter, yellow walkway. It only takes them a few moments to walk to the end, a platform floating on the milky ocean. On the very center of the platform, some sort of red box hovers silently. “This will be a very important part of your quest.” Nanami motions at the box.

“This box.” Hinata stares at it. What the hell is this? “This box is going to be important to me.”

“Yup.” Nanami nods. “All you need to do is lay your hand on it, think about the progress you've made, and close your eyes. It will rejuvenate you. It also lets you travel to the other zones. You might want to move quickly while going between zones, however. Just trust me on this one.” She winks at him, nudging him forward.

“...” Hinata continues to stare at the box. It'll let him... travel between zones? “...Alright.” He lays his hand on top of it and closes his eyes. His thoughts hit him, the impossibly long walk, the yellow building, the blocks, the ticket, and Nanami. A jolt of energy runs through him. All the fatigue in his legs disappear. His vision and hearing become sharper. “Woah.”

“Just think about... becoming nothing. With your hand on the box. I'll leave the rest to you.” Nanami gives him a tired wave, yawns, and stalks back into the building. Hinata stares at the box. Become... nothing? His hand presses on it. He imagines getting out of this boring place. That doesn't work. With an annoyed groan, Hinata closes his eyes and thinks of himself dissolving away. Floating away into nothing. Suddenly the world begins spinning around him, even though he's standing still. His eyes fly open, and he catches sight of three rings whirling around and there's a bright flash... and nothing. Hinata finds himself staring at nothing. Literally nothing. Blackness, ever encompassing blackness, as far as the eye could see. And despite how open it is, Hinata begins to feel claustrophobic. Like the darkness is closing in on him. And the sounds he hears don't help matters. Hinata hears whispers, quiet at first. They sound like they're right next to his ear, loud enough to hear but still to quiet to make out what exactly they're saying. They start to get louder. Hinata takes a few steps to get away from the whispers. They follow him. He begins running, heart and brain pounding in unison out of fear. He sprints, the whispers getting louder and louder, even as they get more incomprehensible, until Hinata trips over something. A spot of maroon in the dark. Pale red and green blossom out from the central point. Hinata grasps at it, hoping it works like the box. He grabs it tightly, wishing desperately to return to being, to a tangible world, and feels himself being sucked into the spot, the whispers dying out along with his consciousness.

 


	2. Zone One: Smoke Mines and Add-Ons

When Hinata opens his eyes, he finds himself on a platform similar to the one in Zone Zero, except more... metallic. Despite being a lime green this time, the platform still floats on a milky white ocean. The whispers are gone, leaving his brain ringing from the silence. He takes a shuddery step to make sure his legs still work. Yep. Hinata begins his walk down the platform. It curves a few feet from where he... spawned, for lack of a better word, and curves again another few feet from the turn. Hinata narrows his eyes. Who built this in a U-shape? And why? Out of the corner of his eye, off on a miniscule offshoot from the path, Hinata spots another red box. He ignores it, feeling fine if a bit shaken, and continues walking down the platform.

It only takes him a few minutes to reach the end of this one. He's surprised by what he finds. Instead of a derelict building like with Zone Zero, Hinata finds what appears to be a train station. An old fashioned trolley car sits on the track. As he approaches it, Hinata spots a short man standing near the trolley. The man just sort of stares off into space. Hinata approaches him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey. What's this?" Hinata points at the trolley car with his bat. The man, who is dressed like he's going to work or something in his white dress shirt, black tie and pants, jumps in surprise. He runs a nervous hand through the small tuft of hair on his head.

"Oh my! Y-you scared me, haha..." He smiles sheepishly at Hinata. "Th-this is Train Number One. It's really useful for getting around Zone One."

"Ah. Thanks." Hinata nods at him crossing his arms. So this is Zone One? He shakes his head and approaches the train car. The man standing over there makes no move to get on the train. Hinata catches a glimpse of a shockingly similar man on the other side, also staring into space. Hinata just snorts and pushes the door of the train open. It's small and cramped in there, with the seats small and squashed between the two doors on both sides. There's barely enough leg space for someone of his size in the space between the two rows of seats. Luckily, there's only one guy there. Hinata plops himself down next to him. Shooting him a glance, the guy looks practically the same as the other two guys. The guy catches him staring.

"Oh! U-uh... may I help you sir?" The man stutters out just as the train lurches into motion.

"What are you guys called?" Hinata squints at him, causing the guy to sweat.

"U-uh... th-they call us E-Elsens... sir." The man, or Elsen, uses the back of his hand to wipe his sweating forehead. Hinata stares him down for a moment before snorting and facing forward. The Elsen sighs in relief and slumps in his seat just as the train lurches into motion. Hinata spends the rest of the rumbling train ride sitting in silence, staring out the window. All that he sees is the milk ocean. Damn it.

The train stopped. Eventually. Hinata had just begun to doze off, thoughts of this milky ocean and Nanami and  _Purification_  floating in his mind. The train jolts to a stop, shaking Hinata from his thoughts. The Elsen next to him timidly tugs on Hinata's sleeve, fully waking him up.

"U-Uh sir? I b-believe this is your stop." He flinches when Hinata pulls himself out of his seat.

"Thanks." Hinata glances back at him, making the man let out a shaky sigh. He raises an eyebrow and turns away, about to exit the train, when the man speaks up again.

"E-excuse me for asking... but why are you here, sir? I don't think you've come to work in the smoke mines..." The Elsen cringes, as though Hinata's going to hit him or something. Hinata raises his brow. Smoke mines? What the hell does that mean?

"...I'm here to purify the world." And with that he leaves, the man making a timid, wheezing noise behind him. Hinata ignores it, plodding out of the train. He finds himself standing on yet another green platform connected to another stri. A sign is the only other thing there, reading 'DAMIEN', but with the 'E' and 'N' backwards. Hinata stares up at it and shakes his head, proceeding down the walkway and ignoring the Elsen that stands off to the side. The man lets out a wheezy 'Hhh' as Hinata passes by him. He plods along the path for a few minutes, until he reaches a platform that expands into something bigger, a building sitting right near the end of the walkway. He's about to ignore it and proceed, but then one of those Elsen guys comes out of the building. He wears a miner's helmet and stops Hinata before he can get anywhere.

"U-um... uh... a visitor?" The Elsen glances around nervously. "W-welcome to the smoke mines..." Hinata raises an eyebrow. These smoke mines again? "Could you uh... tell me who you are? Are you an inspector?"

"No. I'm Hinata." The end up staring at each other for a few moments before Hinata sighs. "I'm not an inspector. I've come to cleanse this zone of the impurities here."

"H-Hinata?... I-Impurities?... Are you... an inquisitor of sorts? "

"Yeah." Hinata shrugs. "Something like that."

"S-So... Who sent you?..." The Elsen asks anxiously, wringing his hands. Hinata can tell he's stressed out.

"Nobody. I'm on my own mission." Hinata crosses his arms.

"O-Oh... Maybe you were hired by somebody..." The Elsen taps his chin in thought and makes that weird wheezing sound again. He speaks up before Hinata can say anything about it. "Hhh... That's okay... It means someone answered our requests. Okay then... let's go over your mission..." The man takes a deep breath before speaking again.

"Well... You're at the smoke mines in Damien, in the southern part of Zone One... What we do here is send workers down into the tunnels to mine out metals... This releases smoke that has been trapped within the rock." Hinata looks at the Elsen strangely. He's... not sure that's how smoke works. The man keeps going. "We have a variety of tools that we use to bottle up the smoke, which the Queen then sends to the other zones." Hinata narrows his eyes. The Queen.  _Purification_. "The rest goes free and forms the air we breathe... S-So we can live..." He keeps talking, preventing Hinata from asking about the smoke. They're breathing smoke? "O-Of the four elements, this probably makes it the most important. B-Because without smoke, we wouldn't be able to breathe." The Elsen takes a shaky breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "So... Th-that's most of it... Finally... Uh..."

"What does this have to do with my mission?" Hinata uses his moment of hesitation to cut in.

"Right... That's the part... Y-You see... there are spectres in the mines... And they've been becoming more aggressive... But um... I'd prefer it if you just... didn't go into the mines..." Hinata's face scrunches up in confusion. The Elsen spots it and begins stuttering out an excuse. "W-Well... Th-the uh... the regulations f-forbid visitors from e-e-entering th-the m-mines, y-you see..." Hinata is about to say something about it when the man begins talking again. "S-So here's what we're going to do. N-Nearby is an annex tunnel that almost nobody goes into. But uh... someone went down there some time ago... A-and he said he saw something very uh... strange. Not normal. At all. And I thought that it... you know... could be the chief spectre. So y-your task... is to go down into the tunnel... and kill the spectre chief. Then they'll all go a-away... and we can work safely again..." The man makes one final, satisfied sigh. "A-any questions?"

"...No." Hinata brushes off all the weirdness about smoke and whatnot.

"G-Great..." The Elsen shoots him a strained smile. "It's just... down there." He points over, and a few feet away, on a separate platform, Hinata can see a staircase descending into the ground. "I'll... wait here for you." The man closes his eyes. Hinata raises an eyebrow and walks up to the man. He just lets out that wheezing sound and keeps his eyes shut. With a shrug, Hinata takes a step towards the annex tunnel. He remembers the building behind him. A glance reveals that the man still keeps his eyes shut. Hinata quickly heads into the building. Another Elsen stands there, mumbling something about being promoted. Hinata spots a chest in the corner. He stares down the Elsen there, heading over to the chest and popping the lid. The Elsen glances over at him, but just shakes his head. Hinata reaches in, finding... another ticket. A 'Luck Ticket'. Hinata sighs, sticking the ticket in his pocket and heads out of the building and over to the annex tunnel. It's... purple. Blindingly purple. Hinata blinks a few times before glancing down the tunnel. It's pretty straight, but gets darker down near the end, despite the torches lining the wall. They burn with a purple fire. Not very helpful. Hinata shakes his head and walks with his head hung, staring at the ground. He plods along for a little while before a very familiar voice makes his head snap up in surprise.

"Hinata?... How very strange to see you here..." Nanami stands there, staring at him curiously.

"Nanami. What are you doing here? Are you the spectre's leader?" Hinata narrows his eyes at her.

"Me? No." Nanami giggles quietly. "No, I'm simply passing through. Not like the smoke that makes this zone livable..." The girl yawns, adjusting her hood, and smiles. "However, I believe I know what the Elsens sent you down here for." Nanami steps to the side, revealing... a muscled man. He leans against the wall, eyes closed. His muscles practically bulge through what appears to be a leather jacket. He wears jeans and has a chain wound very loosely around his neck. Similar to Nanami, the man is all white, aside from the tiny blue lightning bolts coming from his eyes. Hinata curiously follows Nanami closer to him. She speaks up when they're a few feet from him. "Yeah... I think they're one of those... circular Add-Ons..." Hinata looks around the small room. Circular? He has no idea what Nanami is blabbing about. She keeps talking. "I've tried approaching it multiple times, but... I just can't... It's very strange." She stops to glance at him. "Hmm... maybe someone like you... Who knows nothing about this world..." Nanami steps to the side. "Try approaching it."

"Okay." Hinata shrugs. "Just show me what you want me to approach, and I'll do it."

"Um... I just did?" Nanami looks at him in confusion, motioning towards the man. He cracks an eye open and stares at Hinata.

"No you definitely did not. If you want me to approach the guy standing right there, then yeah. I'll do it. But otherwise, I don't see what you're talking about." Hinata snorts and crosses his arms.

"Man?..." Nanami stares at Hinata for what seems like forever. Hinata even takes a step back, unnerved. She just keeps staring. "Hmm... This... is very strange. I only know one other person who describes Add-Ons as real people..." Nanami scratches at her chin. "I'll have to see if I can talk to her about this..." While she mumbles to herself, Hinata approaches the 'Add-On' man. The man gets up off the wall and takes a step towards Hinata, holding his hand out. Hinata takes it, and there's a flash that blinds him for a moment. The next thing he knows, the man is behind him. Hinata somehow knows his name. Nidai. Nidai smiles at him, nodding.

"Is that what was supposed to happen?" Hinata raises an eyebrow. Nanami turns to him.

"...I think so. This is very peculiar..." She purses her lips in thought before sighing. "Very well. Hmm... well since it, or rather  _he_ as you say, has decided to accompany you, I can only ask that you make the most of it. Him, sorry."

"...Alright." Hinata shrugs. He then glances around the room. Nidai glances around with him. "So the chief spectre isn't here?"

"The Elsens were probably talking about the Add-On, to be completely honest." Nanami sighs. "I haven't come across anything other than him in here. Although it could very likely be something else..." She tilts her head back and yawns. "I think... I'll let you take care of this. I'm going to... take a nap..." Hinata stares at her for a little while until he realizes that she's actually fallen asleep. Standing up. Hinata shakes his head and exits the annex tunnel, Nidai in tow. He marches up to the Elsen with the mining helmet, poking him in the shoulder with his bat. The man jumps in surprise, cowering behind his arms. Once he sees who it is, he relaxes.

"Oh! So uh... did you kill the chief spectre?"

"...No." Hinata states simply. "It wasn't there."

"Oh. Oh no." The Elsen panics slightly. "Oh bugger. Oh god. Oh crap..." He grips his head and leans forward for a moment before standing up straight. "I... I guess I'll have to let you into the main mines... I s-suppose this counts as a special situation, as detailed in chapter twenty-three, page four hundred seven... paragraph five..." The Elsen mumbles to himself and sticks a hand into his pocket. Some blocks that Hinata hadn't noticed before disappear, clearing the way to another area of the platform. "Th-there you go... The mines are to the right. U-Uhm... good luck?"

"Thanks." Hinata nods at the man and proceeds to the right. Another staircase descends into the ground. An Elsen near them asks if he's the mine inspector, but Hinata ignores him, walking down into the cool depths of the smoke mines, Nidai tromping silently after him. Hinata finds himself in a break room type area, with a few Elsens sitting around, they glance at him, one of them whispering loudly about who let him in. Another asks if he's here to clear the 'phantoms', to which Hinata responds with a nod. They seem to relax and let him through. Hinata feels the air get colder, somehow. He quickly scans the area, finding nothing as of yet. Nidai tenses up, clenching his fists. Hinata walks down the tunnel, which curves to the left after a few feet. He reaches a room with one of those boxes, except yellow instead of red. He's about to continue when he feels a breeze tickle his neck and what sounds like far off laughing. His instincts kick in, his other hand flying to his bat. He grips it, just like when he fought Nanami. Nidai whips the chain off of his neck and slowly swings it.

"Show yourselves!" Hinata yells out, not thinking. "I will be your salvation! The forgiveness that puts you to eternal rest!" He snaps out of his daze, wondering where those words came from. That's when eight... things appear out of thin air. Hinata takes a step back, bumping into Nidai's back. The things, spectres, float hauntingly in the air, their eyes bulging and glassy. They gape at him emptily. Hinata takes a deep breath. "...My judgment will set you free." Taking a moment to stare them down, Hinata counts eight. This... shouldn't be too hard. "Get them!" He shouts to Nidai, launching himself forward. His bat comes down with a quiet 'clang' onto the top of one of the spectres. It smashes into the ground, disappearing in a puff of red smoke and gore. Hinata shields himself from the spray, which quickly disappears as well. He turns to find Nidai lashing out at one with his chain. It wraps around the helpless spectre. Nidai jerks it back, slamming his fist into the phantom as it gets close. It, too, blows up in a gory splatter that quickly fades from existence. Hinata grins. Easy. It's then that the spectres strike back. Five of the remaining ones zoom up to him, faster than he can dodge, and drive their puny arms into his body. He manages to block the attacks of one of them with his bat, but the other attacks drive home, pounding against his body. It hurts less than he expected, but hurts nonetheless. He glances at Nidai, who takes a smaller beating from the two left over, immediately pounding one of them into the ground with his fist, then grinding it away with his foot. Hinata swings wide, catching one of the spectres in its eye. It reels backwards, falling to the ground and dying. Hinata continues with his momentum, smashing another into the wall with a particularly strong swing. It blows up into dust. Hinata turns, finding a spectre charging at him. He brings up his bat to deflect it, when suddenly the thing explodes, a chain bursting through it. When the ghost dust clears, Hinata finds Nidai standing there, one of the last spectres clenched under his arm. The man crushes it, staining his shirt for half a second before the gore fades away. Hinata whirls around instinctively, driving his bat into another phantom. It dies the moment it's hit. The final spectre tries to flee, stopped in its tracks by Nidai's chain. Hinata sighs.

"Nice work, Nidai." He smiles, the man nodding at him appreciatively. Hinata wearily glances over, looking at the yellow cube. It floats just like the red one. He wanders over, pressing his hand to the top. Hinata thinks about the Elsens, the train, the smoke mines, and Nidai. Relief spreads over him, dragging the pain out of his wounds and revitalizing him. Nidai apparently feels the rejuvenating energies as well, straightening up and hefting his chain.

"Alright. Let's keep going." Hinata heads forward, finding himself staring at yet another damn block barring his path. "But not this way." Shaking his head, Hinata turns to the only other path, plodding down it with Nidai following close behind.


	3. Zone One: Metal Malarkey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What? No way. I totally didn't forget about this. Haha...

"No, but I think we're almost there." Hinata turns to Nidai, who shrugs at him. They hear a wheeze and whirl around. Hinata spots another one of those weird, monkey-like Januarys. Its arms curve towards its head as it stumbles forward, hissing out another dusty breath. Hinata leaps forward as Nidai slings his chain. The chain twists around the ghoul's neck, yanking it forward. Hinata swings his bat down, connecting with the monster's skull with a crack. It hits the ground, lashing out at Hinata. The swing thuds against his stomach, throwing him back. Nidai steps forward, smashing his foot into the January's head. The creature dies in a puff of gore and fades away.

Hinata gets up and brushes himself off. Nidai nods at him, and they keep going. Hinata climbs down a ladder he thought he hadn't seen before, finding a locked door at the end of a tunnel it connected to. With a groan, he retraces his steps, climbing back up the ladder and heading in a different direction. Hinata spends a few more minutes stumbling around, thwacking a few more Magnolias and Common Spectres.

"Fuck! I give. We're never getting out of here." Hinata groans, covering his eyes with his forearm and leaning against a nearby wall. He feels Nidai tap his shoulder. Hinata moves his arm away. "What?"

"..." The Add-On points to something next to Hinata with his thumb. Hinata glances over, seeing a ladder that has light shining down through the opening at the top. Which means it's an exit.

"Oh. Right." Hinata gets up, catching sight of Nidai's amused smirk out of the corner of his eye. He shoots a look at the man. "Don't give me that." Nidai shrugs. Hinata just shakes his head, grabbing a rung on the ladder and hauling himself up. When he's about halfway up, Nidai follows.

The light hurts his eyes as Hinata emerges from the mines, bright enough that he has to pause for a moment before finishing his climb. He fishes his bat out of the bag Nanami gave him, Nidai finishing his ascent moments later. They take a few steps before being approached by an Elsen. He glances around nervously, approaching the pair with caution. He, for some reason, doesn't seem to notice Nidai.

"U-uhm... wh... what?" The Elsen wrings his hands, face scrunching up slightly. "Did you come from the smoke mines?"

"Yeah." Hinata answers simply. What else is there to say?

"But... but there's... there are so many spectres down there..."

"...Yeah?"

"Uh..." Hinata's response makes the Elsen sweat a little. "Are... are you a spectre?" He whispers the final part, taking a slight step back.

"No." Hinata glances at Nidai, who shrugs again.

"Y-you're not? But you... you were in the smoke mines." The Elsen glances around, confused. "Did... have you been sent by the Queen? Or maybe Kuzuryuu?" Hinata frowns at the name. It sounds familiar. And dangerous.

"No. I wasn't."

"But you know how to fight the spectres." The Elsen seems stumped. He's not wringing his hands or sweating anymore. He just scratches his head occasionally. "That means you can destroy them... right? The spectres I mean."

"Yes."

"Oh. Cool." Hinata can practically see the gears in his head turning. "Would you mind um... doing something for us?" Hinata tilts his head, waiting. "There are some uh... spectres in our big barns. And we can't do... well... anything about them."

"Barns?" Hinata doesn't remember any barns. He glances back at Nidai, who shakes his head.

"Ah... yeah..." The Elsen nods and points off into the distance. "See, you're at the metal farmsteads of Pentel. It's the eastern part of Zone One. Our work consists of taking the livestock and... bisecting them. Then we remove the metal boulders within the cadavers." Hinata scrunches his face up in surprise. What the fuck? That's... not how livestock works... is it? He can hear distant moos and wonders if it  _is_  how they work. The Elsen continues. "The poor quality stuff gets discarded... and is later used to form the ground we walk on. The uh... 'good' stuff gets processed and turned into tools and... well... other useful things." The Elsen taps his chin, then adds onto his spontaneous explanation. "I suppose that... some of the metal is packed up and sent to the other Zones as well..." He crosses his arms and nods. "Yup. As the first of the four elements... it's rather important." Hinata cocks his head. The Elsen from earlier said that smoke was the most important element. "Yeah. Without metal, there would be nothing to walk on. We'd just sink and drown."

"Okay..." Hinata frowns. "But what about the barns?"

"The... barns?..." The Elsen stares absentmindedly for a moment before nodding in recognition. "Ah, right. The spectres in the large barns..."

"Look. I didn't really... agree to do this." Hinata motions with the bat. "Plus, I need to purify the smoke mines first."

"Okay... understandable... but... well, the barns... they're not that big, see... A-and... well the um..." The Elsen gulps. "The inspector's coming soon, any minute now..." Hinata raises an eyebrow. That's new. And it changes things. "So it would be uh... really nice of you. To do this. For us. Yes."

"..." Hinata considers. Sure, he said he would purify the smoke mines. But they're big. And the spectres aren't going anywhere. "Fine, alright."

"Oh!" The Elsen looks surprised. "Wow... um... swell! The barns, they're nearby. You'll see them soon if you just... head to the right." He nods. It'll be... quick. Promise."

"Alright." Hinata walks past the man, who quickly trots somewhere else. Before he starts to head over to the barns – and the source of the mooing he heard earlier – Hinata spots a building, looming quietly nearby. He heads over, Nidai in tow.

As he enters the building, Hinata notices that this must be a barn. The inside is purple, like the smoke mines, and there are various chairs scattered about in half of the room. The building itself is split in two by a fence. On the side without chairs, a pair of cows plod aimlessly, not making a sound. Two Elsens sit on the side with chairs, one actually in a chair and the other stands, staring at the cows. Not finding anything of interest, Hinata quickly leaves and heads to the east, toward the mooing.

The trip to the other barns is quick, just like the Elsen said. He gets there in less than a minute, finding multiple buildings like the barn he just left, as well as a bunch of balls of an unknown substance, piled around haphazardly. He spots an Elsen pushing around one of the balls and approaches him.

"Oh. Hello." The Elsen looks at him. "This is metal, i-in case you were wondering. This is the processed stuff we send to other Zones. It's pretty uh... metallic." Hinata shoots the dude a look and continues to an opening in one of the buildings, a few feet away.

"Uh... hey um... you." An Elsen waves him down. Hinata glances at Nidai and approaches the man. "Yeah uh... you're here to kill the spectres. Right?" He waits for Hinata to nod. "Okay good. Can you... hurry it up a bit? The inspector's due any second now." Hinata frowns at the guy. Who does he think he is, ordering him around like that? He scoffs and steps away. Right as he's about to step into the barn, Nidai taps his shoulder. Hinata turns around and sees the Add-On pointing at something. One of those yellow boxes.

"Ah. Good thinking." Hinata heads over, doing the mandatory motions. He feels the warmth and rejuvenation flow through him and straightens his back. After a moment to compose himself, Hinata heads into the barn.

It's similar to the other one, but... colder. And there are no cows. Just spectres. Hinata frowns, adjusting his grip on his bat. There are two paths, forward and left, and he opts to take the left, hearing the whooshing and almost silent groans and giggles that mark the presence of a spectre. Sure enough, two of the grinning bastards float around the room. One rests near a pile of metal and the other floats around overs some hay. Their smiles drop when they notice him, mouths falling into a startled gasp. As he approaches the hay one, it does something strange. Its lips, if they can even pass for lips, sprout fangs, and its eyes drain of any color they once had. Nidai huffs silently and slings his chain. But then the spectre gasps, and some...  _thing_  appears in front of it. The thing quickly gains shape, even as the chair hurtles towards it. It finishes forming just as Nidai's attack strikes it. Funny, Hinata thought it kind of looked like a word bubble from comic books. He dashes forward, pounding his bat into the spectre. It makes a weird squishing sound and looks surprised. One of its stubby arms lash out at him, thumping against his temple. Hinata stumbles back, surprised to find the thing Nidai killed back again. It is, in fact, a speech bubble, the words 'ah ah!' on it. He stares at it, confounded, as Nidai once again lashes out with his chain. It whips the spectre in the eye socket, making it wail out, the sound staggering the both of them. Hinata manages to recover and, with a final, mighty swing, strikes the spectre right in the center of its 'face'. The spectre wails, hitting the ground, and fades out of existence. Satisfied, Hinata glances up to see the 'ah ah!' still there. Just... existing. Nidai tromps up and grabs it. It squishes in his grasp and pops, fading out.

"Well... looks like we've got a bit of work ahead of us." Hinata sighs, cracking his knuckles, and heads over to the spectre hiding in the metal pile, Nidai hot on his heels.

* * *

"...Purified." Hinata stares down at the spectre on the ground. He stomps down on it, killing the thing and sending it to nonexistence in a puff of ghost gore. He turns to Nidai, who squishes two 'ah ah!'s together, killing them. "Alright. Lets go." He motions for the Add-On to follow him, heading to a brown panel that he found out could teleport him to the barn's entrance. It was weird, like a mini red box thing. Hinata, somewhat reluctantly, steps on it. The three rings appear around him, the darkness of the Void flashing around him very briefly. It's still as disturbing as the first time. But it's over sooner than it began, and Hinata finds himself right next to the barn's entryway. Nidai appears behind him a few moments later. He's about to step out when Nidai stops him. Hinata glances back at him. The Add-On cups his other hand around his ear, then motions toward the wall. Hinata looks at him strangely, but then he hears it. Footsteps and voices. And he realizes that the wall would obscure them from view. He slips behind the wall just as the two voices come into view. One of them is an Elsen, but the other... he's a lot different, that's for sure.

"I... I... I... um... I'm really... uh..." The Elsen stutters out, fiddling with his tie. The other figure, taller than the Elsen by only a few inches, scoffs.

"Shut your trap, you stupid idiot." The boy, or man, Hinata supposes, is somewhat short, with close cropped blonde hair. On the side he can see, there's a swirling pattern shaved into the boy's head. He'd say that the boy has a bit of a baby face, if it weren't for the fact that he has a weird set of oversized teeth that make it look like he's permanently snarling. He wears a pinstripe suit, and his fingers seem elongated, almost claw like. He also holds himself aggressively, just like his attitude.

"Well... no I... okay..." The Elsen sighs, glancing away.

"...Look, how long's he been in there?" The boy snarls at the Elsen. Hinata notes that the snarling seems involuntary, and is probably due to his huge teeth.

"I uh... don't know." The Elsen manages, weakly shrugging.

"Of course you don't." The boy pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "You know nothing. At all." He shakes his head, clearly annoyed. "I could have answered my own damn question."

"I... He said he would... e-eliminate the spectres..." The Elsen sputters.

"And why does this so called 'inquisitor' think he's capable of eliminating the phantoms, hmm?" The boy snorts angrily. "He thinks he's better than you. Better than the Queen!" He turns away, moving to stare at the cows.

"N-no... I... don't think h-he thinks that..." The Elsen gulps and weakly stands up for Hinata.

"Can it." The boy growls, turning to glare at the Elsen, who shrinks away from his look. "I didn't ask you to talk." He turns back around, taking a step towards the Elsen. "I bet you think you're smarter than everyone else." He jabs a bony finger into the Elsen's chest. "But you're  _not_. Pfeh." He scoffs and backs up, letting the Elsen take a deep, anxious breath. "Whatever. It's not important. The ghosts'll kill him."

"You... think he's going to... t-to die?" The Elsen squeaks out.

"Of course he is. Only the Queen's officers can kill the phantoms. And he's not one of the Queen's officers. So yeah. He'll die." The boy shakes his head. "Pathetic. If you dinguses weren't acting like fools all the time and actually listened to me, then maybe you wouldn't be in such deep shit."

"W-Wait... then uh... who will destroy the... spectres?"

" _I_   could do it." The boy remarks arrogantly. "But you fools don't  _deserve_  it. You'll have to solve this problem yourselves. Sucks to be you, eh?"

"W-Wait... wait, please..." The Elsen pleads, looking like he's about to drop to his knees.

"Bye." The boy rolls his eyes and begins walking away. "I'm heading back to Alma, where the people are marginally more polite than the dickheads here."

"No... please..." The Elsen clasps his hands together as the boy tries to walk away. He hesitantly steps in front of the boy.

"Piss off, fool." The boy snarls.

"But the spectres..." The Elsen drops to his knees, begging.

"I said get the  _fuck_  out of my way if you want to keep your damn job." His snarl intensifies, and the Elsen reluctantly stands up and moves aside. The boy shoves the Elsen more to the side and stomps off, the Elsen watching solemnly as the boy walks away. Hinata frowns. Who was that? And why the hell did he think he was going to die in there, what the hell? He emerges from the barn, heading over to the Elsen.

"Who was that guy?" Hinata asks, glancing past the Elsen. The boy had already disappeared.

"You... you're alive?" The Elsen looks up at him, confused.

"Uh... yeah." Hinata motions to himself, indicating he's fine.

"A-and the spectres?"

"Eliminated. Your barn's pure now." Hinata nods, seeing the hopefulness in the Elsen's eyes.

"You... must be pretty lucky."

"Now, who was that guy?" Hinata points in the direction the boy walked.

"That was... Kuzuryuu." The Elsen sighs, still scared. "He's the Queen's supervisor here."

"There's something wrong with him." Hinata remarks. It's definitely Kuzuryuu that he needs to purify. The boy likely has a connection with the spectres.

"Uh... not really? I don't think the Queen would... employ someone who has... something wrong. W-with them."

"But he's so hostile." Hinata notes. "And I think he's the one I must destroy."

"Wait no... d-don't do that. Th-the destroying thing." The Elsen shakes his head rapidly, afraid. "He's an envoy. For the Queen." Hinata's about to say something else when the Elsen interrupts him. "Maybe you should just... go back to your work in the mines." He looks away, then glances back at Hinata. "Please."

"..." Hinata just stares at the Elsen.

"Plus... he's in Alma... Nobody can go there without proper authorization." The Elsen clenches his fists. "So just... go back to the smoke mines."

"...Fine." Hinata sighs in defeat, shaking his head. He jams his hands into his pockets and motions for Nidai to follow with his head. The Add-On nods, and the two of them stroll off, back towards the mines.


End file.
